Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr is the new Heisman Trophy betting favorite at +150 on FanDuel Sportsbook, a stunning one-week climb from +1200 after he steered a 31-24 home victory over the previously unbeaten Miami Hurricanes. That result knocked Miami quarterback Darian Mensah out of the top spot, and he now shares second place at +320 with Jeremiah Smith, the Ohio State Buckeyes star receiver whose team has lost two games in a row. The board also lost a frontrunner before kickoff, as Miami wideout Malachi Toney underwent ankle surgery that will keep him out for the remainder of the regular season. For more on how these swings shape the rest of the market, visit our College football betting hub.
2026-27 Heisman Trophy betting favorites
Week 10 reshuffled nearly every tier of the market, with a new leader at the top and four fresh names pushing into contention. Here is how FanDuel lists the leading candidates as of Sunday, Nov. 8:
- CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame Fighting Irish: +150
- Darian Mensah, QB, Miami Hurricanes: +320
- Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State Buckeyes: +320
- Devon Dampier, QB, Utah Utes: +1400
- Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State Cowboys: +1700
- Gunner Stockton, QB, Georgia Bulldogs: +2000
- Keelon Russell, QB, Alabama Crimson Tide: +2700
- LaNorris Sellers, QB, South Carolina Gamecocks: +5500
- Nate Sheppard, RB, Duke Blue Devils: +8000
Every other player on FanDuel’s board is priced at +10000 or longer.
Carr: This was the signature performance his campaign needed. Carr completed 29 of 40 attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, including two scoring strikes to Micah Gilbert, as the Irish built a 24-3 cushion and then held on. He now owns 2,168 passing yards, 21 touchdown passes and only one pick, plus three rushing scores, and he has gone 185 straight throws without being intercepted. With Notre Dame at 8-1 and a manageable closing schedule, the path to New York runs through South Bend.
Mensah: Losing the head-to-head matchup cost Mensah his place atop the market, though his numbers held up reasonably well. Playing without Toney, he threw for 276 yards and three touchdowns on 24-of-43 passing and led a second-half rally that trimmed a 21-point deficit to one score, but a costly interception hurt. His season line still reads 2,701 yards, 28 touchdowns and two interceptions for an 8-1 team, so he likely needs Carr to stumble before reclaiming first place.
Smith: The Buckeyes fell 41-28 to the Oregon Ducks, their second consecutive defeat with quarterback Julian Sayin sidelined. Smith did his part with seven grabs for 133 yards and a score, and that outing was the 16th 100-yard game of his career, breaking Marvin Harrison Jr.’s Ohio State record. He has 1,200 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns this fall, but a 6-3 team drifting away from the playoff picture makes his case a tough sell to voters.
Dampier: No contender came from further back. Dampier entered the weekend outside FanDuel’s top 10 and jumped to fourth after accounting for 264 yards and four touchdowns, two passing and two rushing, in Utah’s 28-20 win over the BYU Cougars. He also hauled in a 29-yard pass on a fourth-down trick play to keep a key drive alive. Through the season, the dual threat has 2,053 passing yards, 20 touchdown throws and seven interceptions, plus 480 rushing yards and seven more scores for an unbeaten Utes team.
Mestemaker: The Oklahoma State passer tightened from +5000 to +1700 after a 66-28 rout of the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas. He went 22 of 28 for 313 yards with four touchdown passes and one interception, ran for another score and even caught a 5-yard touchdown on a trick play. The Cowboys are 6-3, so his candidacy rests on volume more than team success.
Stockton: Georgia’s 42-7 demolition of the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford turned Stockton into one of the week’s biggest movers, from +5000 to +2000. He needed only nine completions on 15 attempts to produce 186 yards and four touchdown passes, and he added a 15-yard rushing score. Leading an 8-1 Bulldogs team gives him a strong platform for the stretch run.
Russell: Alabama’s quarterback enters the conversation after a 31-13 road win over the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. Russell connected on 17 of 24 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns, an efficient outing that has the 7-2 Crimson Tide climbing back into the SEC race.
Sellers: South Carolina ground out a 17-9 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies for its fourth win in a row, and Sellers was at the center of it. His price sits at +5500, a long shot that reflects a hot team more than eye-popping numbers.
Sheppard: The lone running back in the top tier, Sheppard tore through the NC State Wolfpack for 217 yards and three touchdowns on just 18 carries in a 41-3 Duke win. He has piled up 1,189 rushing yards and 17 scores, which ranks second nationally in yardage.
Several names from last week’s board have faded. Toney is off the market entirely following his surgery. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss managed only 170 yards with an interception in the blowout loss to Georgia and now sits at +10000 or longer. LSU’s Sam Leavitt threw for 380 yards against Alabama, but the home defeat pushed him out of the top tier as well, along with Oregon State Beavers receiver Jesse Legree and Wake Forest Demon Deacons quarterback Gio Lopez.
Recent Heisman Trophy history
There have been 90 Heisman Trophy winners (91 awards) since the first one in 1935. One player, Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, won the award twice, in 1974 and 1975. The award was originally called the DAC Trophy and was given out by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City, in recognition of the best college football player east of the Mississippi River. The award was later renamed for the club’s late athletic director, John Heisman, and the focus expanded to include college football players nationwide.
In the early years of the award, running backs dominated the field. It has been a different story in recent times, with quarterbacks winning the Heisman Trophy in eight of the last 10 seasons. All told, QBs lead the all-time list of winners by position with 39 Heisman wins.
| Season | Heisman Winner | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Lamar Jackson | QB | Louisville |
| 2017 | Baker Mayfield | QB | Oklahoma |
| 2018 | Kyler Murray | QB | Oklahoma |
| 2019 | Joe Burrow | QB | LSU |
| 2020 | DeVonta Smith | WR | Alabama |
| 2021 | Bryce Young | QB | Alabama |
| 2022 | Caleb Williams | QB | USC |
| 2023 | Jayden Daniels | QB | LSU |
| 2024 | Travis Hunter | WR/CB | Colorado |
| 2025 | Fernando Mendoza | QB | Indiana |
USC now stands alone atop the school leaderboard with eight Heisman winners after Caleb Williams’ 2022 win pushed the Trojans past the pack. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Ohio State are tied for second with seven apiece. Alabama sits next with four, and two of those (DeVonta Smith in 2020 and Bryce Young in 2021) have come within the last 10 seasons.
Over the last 10 seasons, the SEC leads the conference race with four winners, the Big 12 has three, and the Big Ten, the ACC, and the since-dissolved Pac-12 have one apiece.
Heisman Trophy FAQs
Yes. Multiple online sportsbooks typically offer futures odds on potential Heisman winners, and those odds will shift as the season progresses.
Technically, all players in every division of college football are eligible for the Heisman. In practice, the award almost always goes to a player from one of the major Division I schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
A voting panel consisting mainly of media members who cover college football votes on the award. The voting panel also includes past Heisman winners and one sponsor vote that an online fan ballot decides.
Yes, though it’s extremely rare. Quarterbacks and running backs have dominated Heisman voting in most years. Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson remains the only primarily defensive player to win the award, taking it home in 1997. Colorado’s Travis Hunter came the closest since then, winning the 2024 Heisman as a true two-way player who racked up 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns at wide receiver while also picking off four passes and breaking up 11 more at cornerback. His offensive numbers were strong enough on their own that he doesn’t count as a purely defensive winner, but no player has impacted a Heisman race on defense the way he did in decades.